A record rise in deposits in Iraq

The Association of Iraqi private banks, a record rise in the volume of financial deposits in government and private banks, for the first time since 2014, which witnessed the invasion of the organization of several cities and north and west of the country, and the collapse of oil prices, which led to the entry of Iraq in A stifling financial crisis that has led to the adoption of austerity policy and the cancellation of thousands of development projects.

[ltr]Ali Tariq, executive director of the Association of Banks, an organization licensed by the authorities to monitor financial transactions in banks, said government and private deposits rose by 9.84 trillion dinars (about 8.8 billion dollars) last year, a year earlier than the previous year.[/ltr]

[ltr]Tariq said in a statement that the deposits amounted to 76.89 trillion dinars, compared to 67.05 trillion dinars in 2017.[/ltr]

[ltr]He attributed the rise in deposits to "the measures of the Central Bank in supporting the banking sector, both government and private, in addition to the elimination of Iraq from the financial crisis that hit in 2014 due to falling oil prices and improved security after the elimination of the organization.[/ltr]

[ltr]Iraq has 30 government and private banks, most notably Rafidain, Rashid, Industrial, Commercial, Real Estate, Baghdad, Iraqi Investment, Dar es Salaam and the Middle East.[/ltr][ltr]"The relationship between the citizen and the banking sector is witnessing a great improvement after the procedures of the Central Bank, including the settlement of salaries of employees in the public and private sectors and facilitate the procedures of bank cards and others."[/ltr][ltr] He pointed out that other factors contributed to the increase in deposits, including the increase in the geographical spread of banks through the increase in the number of branches and the provision of electronic payment tools, and expected to increase deposits in the coming years, after the establishment of the company "Deposit Guarantee" by the Central Bank.[/ltr]

[ltr]A senior Finance Ministry official said in a press statement that there was a plan with the help of World Bank experts to withdraw active funds outside the banking sector to banks, pointing out that it aims to increase deposits to 100 trillion dinars (88 billion dollars) in 2022.[/ltr]

[ltr]The official added: "Reports confirm that more than half of the financial liquidity of the Iraqis save them in their homes, and some of them convert them to the dollar for easy to put in places inside the house difficult to detect thieves, and there are large funds unfortunately go to Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, where he sees Some put it there for the best security reason and also the high benefits of up to 14%. "[/ltr]

[ltr]"The rise in deposits may be due to the improvement in oil prices and the return of projects and investments that require bank guarantees and also the resettlement of the salaries of retirees who make up a small percentage of the state's paid monthly," said Mohammed Abdul-Karim al-Refai, financial adviser to the Baghdad Stock Exchange. What is more important is: how many of those who came to the banks, opened accounts, left their money and left? "[/ltr]